Hi Lara
Thanks for asking. Have found a local geek - uni student recommended to me - who's going to take a look at the laptop later today. Have been checking out the links everyone posted (thanks) and don't feel I have enough tech skills to deal with this alone. Also into day 3 of bad headache so struggling to deal with stuff -throw in second day of frozen water pipes and I'm just about ready to move to Brissie! Will post back later how I get on today.